Functional Involvement of Human Periaqueductal Gray and Other Midbrain Nuclei in Cognitive Control.

Recent theoretical advances have motivated the hypothesis that the periaqueductal gray (PAG) participates in behaviors that involve changes in the autonomic control of visceromotor activity, including during cognitively demanding tasks. We used ultra-high-field (7 tesla) fMRI to measure human brain activity at 1.1 mm resolution while participants completed a working memory task.

Cognitive self-regulation influences pain-related physiology.

Cognitive self-regulation can shape pain experience, but its effects on autonomic responses to painful events are unclear. In this study, participants (N = 41) deployed a cognitive strategy based on reappraisal and imagination to regulate pain up or down on different trials while skin conductance responses (SCRs) and electrocardiogram activity were recorded. Using a machine learning approach, we first developed stimulus-locked SCR and electrocardiogram physiological markers predictive of pain ratings.